Fertility problems

Mollie Hunton describes four cases where homeopathy has helped to produce a much-wanted baby

Problems with fertility seem to be becoming more common. Inability to become pregnant, recurrent miscarriage and babies born very prematurely all occur frequently nowadays. The vets report similar problems with sheep and cows and soil analysis of the ground that they graze shows severe deficiency or absence of vital minerals and trace elements like selenium, iodine and zinc. If crops are grown in similar situations it is likely that humans may be suffering from the same deficiencies. If so it would also account for the vast increase in cancer and heart problems, as selenium is an antioxidant. However, whatever the cause, homeopathy seems to be able to help women conceive and have healthy babies. For me it is a very rewarding part of my practice.

Sara At 38 Sara had been seeing an infertility specialist for seven years. She was told that there was no obvious reason why she could not become pregnant. All her tests were normal and she was offered IVF. She decided to try homeopathy before embarking on that route. When I took her history I could not find any symptoms on which to base my prescription. She had not had any previous illnesses and was well in herself.

I asked about her family history. Her mother was well, but she did not remember her father. “What had happened to him?” I asked. “He died just before I was born.” “What did he die of?” TB. There was my only clue. I prescribed Tub bov 10M, three tablets in one day, and two months later she missed her period. Sara had a normal pregnancy and birth and subsequently had two more children without the need for any more remedies. This was a situation where the patient herself had no illness, but suffered from a problem passed on to her by her father which stopped her becoming pregnant. As her father had TB at the time she was conceived the remedy was Tuberculinum bovinum.

Kate I first met this 37 year-old woman in general practice one evening as an emergency. She had had a miscarriage and had not stopped bleeding for seven weeks. A scan had shown that there were no remnants of the pregnancy left behind, but there may have been a fibroid developing. Not good news for a future pregnancy. I gave her some Sepia 30 and she stopped bleeding overnight.

Kate had a dreadful history. She had taken the pill for ten years, then stopped to try to become pregnant. In 1994 she had severe abdominal pain and was admitted to hospital, where an ovarian cyst was diagnosed after a scan. She had immediate surgery. A nurse told her she didn’t think she would be able to have children and this thought had stayed with her ever since and affected her deeply.

In 1998 Kate became pregnant for the first time. However she lost that baby at 14 weeks. She felt her world had fallen apart and she became panicky and constantly anxious. She was put on beta-blockers for a while by her GP, but these did not seem to help much. The following year she had a successful delivery but did not recover her usual happy mood and constantly lived in fear of something happening, either to the baby or the rest of the family.

When the baby was a year old she felt she would like another. She became pregnant again, but had a miscarriage at eight weeks, after which I first encountered her in the surgery. I followed the Sepia with a prescription for Ignatia 30c, which she found very helpful.

After this experience Kate developed severe anticipatory anxiety with a lot of physical symptoms. They were palpitations, feeling unable to take a deep breath (hyper­ventilation) which meant she sighed a lot, nausea and retching in the mornings, a feeling of blockage behind the sternum, panic attacks, fear of losing control, fear of dying, constant morbid thoughts, headaches, fear of a heart attack and fear of a brain tumour. She suffered frequent minor ailments like throat and ear infections and catarrh.

Kate appeared calm on the outside, but hid her real feelings from everyone. She could laugh, but never felt happy. She needed the windows open for fresh air. She was exhausted and always ready to cry. The Ignatia that I had given her on first meeting had helped, but this time I prescribed Natrum muriaticum 10M, three tablets in one day with some advice on anxiety management and abdominal breathing.

The effect from the Nat mur was immediate. She felt better for two days (probably from the therapeutic consultation), then had an aggravation for four days when she cried copiously. On the fifth day she woke and started to improve. Her physical symptoms went and she felt in control of her emotions again. She became pregnant immediately after taking the Nat mur.

Whilst pregnant Kate was mostly well apart from some minor problems, which cleared up on their own. She took Aconite 30c when there was some building work being done on the house, which was very stressful. I had also advised a change of diet before this pregnancy, which involved no sugar, and she changed to soya instead of dairy, as soya is a natural source of female hormones. Rebecca was born at term weighing 7lb 4oz. Her mum was 39 and had thought she would never have another successful pregnancy. She now treats the whole family with homeopathy and has regained her confidence.

Julie This 30 year-old woman had a complicated menstrual history having started her periods at the age of 13 but only menstruating once a year since. At the age of 18 Julie had started the pill and taken it until the age of 26 after which she had not had any periods at all. The gynaecologist thought she had had a premature menopause and put her on HRT.

One of the main reasons for her periods disappearing was that at 21 she’d had a spell of anorexia and her weight dropped to seven stone. Her husband’s sperm count was also slightly low. After investigations, all of which were normal, she was told there was no chance of pregnancy without the fertility drug Clomiphene. Three cycles of that made no difference.

She’d also had a chronic cough with ear infections and mild hearing loss on the left side since she was young and had had lots of antibiotics. Julie was a fastidious lady who wept easily and liked to be appreciated. Her family meant everything to her and not to be able to have children was devastating. She suffered from anticipatory anxiety, liked the company of individuals but was shy in a crowd.

Problems with cycle control and absent periods seem to becoming more common. I have therefore devised a method of maturing the follicle with homeopathic remedies. The regime is easy: Oophorinum 30c (also called ovarian extract) one daily from day five to nine inclusive, counting the first day of a bleed as day one, and Folliculinum 30c, one daily from day 10 to 14 inclusive. Day 14 is ovulation day in a 28-day cycle. The Oophorinum matures the whole ovary and the Folliculinum matures the follicle. If there are no periods, a cycle is counted from any date. If the ovary does not produce a ripe follicle the egg cell cannot be released from it and there is no possibility of pregnancy.

This woman took both remedies plus three tablets of Pulsatilla 10M. She came back to see me two months later having had two periods, one after 35 days and the second after 18. Her temperature chart did not show an ovulation pattern. Her cough had cleared up for the first time ever. As she had a strong family history of cancer I gave her Carcinosin 200, three tablets in 24 hours. Julie did not come back again but after three months on this regime she became pregnant and delivered a healthy baby girl 14 months after her first consultation.

Lesley At 32, Lesley had taken the pill for 12 years before trying to become pregnant for the last 18 months. During this time she had had a miscarriage at 12 weeks and one at eight weeks. Since then she had had irregular periods. As a child and teenager, repeated ear, throat and chest infections, had been treated with antibiotics as had her acne. She suffered from continuous thrush.

She was warm-blooded, intolerant of heat and sweated a lot. She slept well and her energy was good. There were two experiences of grief in her life as a friend had died just before she became pregnant for the first time and her grandmother had also died during this pregnancy. With such a history of antibiotics and her physical reactions I first prescribed Sulphur 6c three times a day for two weeks, then twice a day for two weeks then once a day until she came back to see me a few weeks later. Lesley must have ovulated at the time of the first appointment and she was already pregnant when I next saw her. In view of her previous history she was advised to have monthly scans by her gynaecologist.

The next time I saw her was when she was 16 weeks pregnant. Her recent scan was normal, but she had developed a cough. She was not keen to take any more antibiotics, and a few days of Pulsatilla 30c four times a day was very helpful.

I next saw her when she was seven months pregnant. The doctor had found sugar in her urine. She was advised to stop taking any sugar in her diet and prescribed Sulphur 6c three times a day as before. Four weeks later she told me that the urine sugar had gone, but she was worried that the baby was too big. She was advised to try a low glycaemic diet: no glucose, sucrose, maltose, dextrose, lactose in milk and fructose in fruit. I also advised Sulphur 30c twice a day for a week plus Caulophyllum 30c daily (which helps to prepare the cervix for labour) and Arnica 200c to take every two hours during labour.

Lesley delivered a healthy, but large, baby girl after being induced at 39 weeks. She has kept off the sugar since and has subsequently had another baby girl without any problems.

Mollie Hunton MB BS DRCOG FFHom has been practising homeopathy for 25 years, until recently as a GP, and now in private practice. She is President of the Midlands branch of the Faculty of Homeopathy and teaches homeopathy to undergraduates at Birmingham Medical School.

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